Improvement in heel-trimming machines



G. W. MOORE.

.lmprovementin Weel-Trimming Machines.

N0. A132,309. i Patented Oct. 15,1872..

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIOE.

GEORGE W. MOORE, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO CHARLES W. KING, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN HEEL-TRIMMING MACHINES.,

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 132,309, dated October 15, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE W. MOORE, of Newark, Essex county, in the State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements in Heel-Trimming Machines, of which the following is a specification:

The first part of my invention relates to the apparatus employedto hold the boot or shoe while the heel is being trimmed by rotary cutters suitably arranged and operated for that purpose. Various contrivances called jacks have been used for holding boots, Ste., while undergoing the trimming and burnishing operations 5 but none of them possess the feature of adjustment secured by my arrangement, combined with the facility for releasing the shoe from the jack, when necessary. The second part of my invention relates to the working .of

vrotary cutters around the heel of a boot or shoe (held in my improved jack) in such a manner that a heel of definite form and dimensions can be produced without employing the counter or body of the shoe as a guide or using expensive metallic formers which require to be changed for every style or size of heel required.

To show how these improvements have been effected reference is made to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure l is a plan of the machine with the swing-frame and rotary cutters removed; Fig. 2 is side elevation of the machine; and Fig. 3 is an elevation of the former of cast-iron, which answers, in combination with the slides and adjustments provided, for every size and style of heel commonly made in the shoe-trade.

General Description.

J is the frame of the machine, designed to be fastened to a table or proper frame. d is a horizontal slide, secured by proper ttings to the front of the frame. c is a vertical slide, similarly secured to the front of d, and constructed in .bracket form so as to carry on its top face the jack7-slide Z, which is moved on iittings k by crank n and wheel m Whenever the cutters e need setting to the depth of the heel. O is a heel-support, fastened to slide Z,

which also carries the tube p, in whichvmovable nut D slides freely, being drawn away from the heel of the shoe by spring'E after the operator has trimmed the heel, or pushed forward to clamp the heel when it is inserted in the jack to be trimmed. q is a hand-wheel secured to a screw which occupies the greater length of the tubular nut D, the front end ofthe nut' having fastened in it snugly a dog, z, which can be advanced in relation to the nut by turning the wheel and screw q to adjust the dog to clamp heels of varying depth, the nut itself having always a positive motion given toit by the cam u, which is revolved on pin X by handle Vwvhen the operator inserts or removes a shoe from the jack. e is the rotary cutter-head, carried by a spindle revolved in bearings F on slide b when power is applied to pulley g. Slide b is operated, when it is desired to produce larger or smaller heels, by the hand-wheel H, which moves the shaft and rotary cutters to or from the center of the swing-frame I, to which slide b is fitted. a is a plate or slide, to the front of which b is fitted, and to the back of which swing-frame I is fitted by a dovetail or other suitable fitting, so that slide a is at liberty to move in the swing-frame when controlled by roller A, which moves in the groove of former B when the swing-frame is rotated around the heel by the handle z' attached to shaft h.

Mode of Operating Machine.

The dog. z is adjusted by screw q so as to pinch the heel of the shoe when placed on support O, and thecam is thrown into the position shown in Fig. l. The crank n is moved until the cutters e and guard f (arranged to prevent the cutters from hurting the upper of the shoe) are immediately over the heel t. The slide c carrying the jack is then set at such an elevation that the center of the swing-frame is a little above the support on which the heel rests, according to the style of heel desired. The cutters e will then trim the heel to any size desired by'setting the slide b atthe proper point and rotatingthe swing-frame I around its bearing in the support L.

It will be observed that (the plate a being controlled by rollers A) when the swing-frame is rotated the cutters are carried, by slide b and bearings F, to and from shaft h in a path simi lar to the groove in former B, but varying in radius according to the adjustment of slide b on the plate a. This power of varying the radius upon which the cutters rotate is of great value in the practical working of the machine, as a little smaller heel can be trimmed upon a shoe if the stock proves insufficient upon trimming to make a heel of the proper size; for the adjustment of slide b can be made instantaneously while the machine is running. Indeed the time required to put in a shoe of, for instance, No. 7 size, make all the adjustments above described, and trim the heel is less than it can take to read the description above written; and, of course, when the adjustments vare once made for a shoe or boot of a certain size any number of others of the same size can be trimmed by simply clamping them in the jack, running the horizontal slide (which is provided for the purpose of getting shoes into and out of the machine readily) into a certain stop,

- arranged to bring the shoe exactly under the cutter when in its highest position, and moving the swing-frame with its rotating cuttershaft around the heel from the rear side to the front, as viewed in Fig. 2.

It will be noticed that as the pulley on the cutter-shaft moves through an are of a circle the belt running upon it must be passed over an idle pulley, weighted to the proper tension to make the belt drive the pulley, whatever its position.

By the use of thejack described above shoes or boots can be held either with or without a last; and in either case the heel is held so rmly that a smaller margin of stock is necessary to provide for trimming the heel neatly than when the shoe is pressed by the hand against a rotary cutter, as in the Joyce machine, or shaved by a fixed steel knife or blade like that employed in the McKay nailing and trimming machine. In this last-named machine there must be sufficient stock allowed on the heel before trimming to bed the knife as it cuts.

Otherwise the knife springs of, which is not the case with a rotary cutting action.

By the use of this machine unskilled labor can be employed to trim heels, as the machine, whenadjusted, cannot mar a heel or trim it other than properly. The time saved is fully one-half of that now required with the best trimming-machines and the work is done in a far superior manner.

This great range of sizes and shapes is obtained by the use ofthe slide b, which governs the size of heel, and the slide c, which affects 'the shape" of the heel by setting the center of the swing-frame I at a greater or less distance above the support O that carries the heel.

As it is evident that a rotary cutter fastened to a stationary frame might be used in conjunction with my jack and the jack carried around the cutter-head in a path regulated by a former and sliding frame like that I have described; and that a heel can be finished by the same movements that are required to trim it I therefore claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, the following:

1. A boot and shoe jack, constructed with cam u to operate the dog that holds the boot,

and screw q to vary the opening in which the boot is placed, when constructed and operated substantially as described.

2. The horizontal and vertical adjustable slides l, c, and d, employed to support the jack and locate it properly under the action of the cutter.

3. The combination of the rotary cutter, swing-frame, and stationary jack, arranged and operated substantially as described.

Witnesses:

G. W. MOORE. THos. S. CRANE, ROBERT H. HANCOCK. 

